The state has several pension funds. Firefighters, police and educators have their own pension fund. Public workers such as state and local employees, teachers, law enforcement officers and retirees are enrolled in the pension system. Public employees have been paying for a portion of their pension with a deduction from their salary. The state is required to pay money toward employee pensions and has been having problems making payments for many years.

The cost of public employee pensions is still being blamed for the rising cost of taxes reported in the press and on television. People have seemingly been led to believe that public employees have overly generous pensions. Actually public employees have worked at lower salaries and benefits than many of those in the private sector.

The problem with public employees’ pension funds began during Gov. Christie Whitman’s administration. At the time, the pension funds were making a profit on investments, so Whitman borrowed money from the pension funds to help pay for property taxes. She never paid the money back.

Administrations after Whitman did not pay or underpaid pension payments. Failure to pay back a loan is stealing. Apparently Christie Whitman and ensuing administrations have actually robbed money from public employee pensions.

Gov. Chris Christie and some legislators want public employees to make up for the money that was stolen from them. Since Gov. Christie’s solution to the pension problem is to reform the pension system, he and Senate President Stephen Sweeney pushed through the 2011 Pension Reform Law that was passed and signed by Gov. Christie.

The Pension Reform Law included raising the retirement age from 62 to 65, reduced pensions for those taking early retirement and required employees to pay more toward their pension and health benefits. Chris Christie was a public employee before he became governor. Do he and legislators have to abide by the 2011 Pension Reform Law?

Public employees have have been vilified. The bashing of public employees reported in the press could be a cover-up to keep people from knowing there are lawmakers that continue to get away with robbing public employees of their pension money by not paying back the money owed to them.